A couple's car breaks down on a dark and stormy night. A nearby estate offers shelter and an oddball group of guests all behaving very strangely. The phone lines are down and a necklace is stolen, shots are fired, a guest is strangled. You know, the usual fare.
During a very bad performance of "Murder Me Always", a real murder takes place off stage. The Director is shot. The "fake" play comes to a halt and a "real" murder mystery begins.
A Theatre group is holding auditions for a Murder Mystery called "Death of A Disco Dancer". All of the typical actors show up to audition. There is Mia Monahan - the militant method actress, Amber Frost- the ditzy Drama queen, Chad - the energetic actor who never seems to get a part in anything, Alan- the accomplished Theatre Major who works at a fast-food place in the meantime. Troy May - the ego-centric actor who always gets a role and his gorgeous assistant Tantanya who holds his imported bottled water and carries his Portfolio. And last but not least, Mrs. Needleman and her precious daughter Julie, fresh from the Little Miss Pumpkin Pageant finals. The auditions get underway without too many problems, well a few.. Well, all right, you see, the thing is.. the Director Vivian Vinderlou and assistant director Reed Moore have a bit of the problem with "script". The problem is they don't have enough copies for everyone. And the bigger problem is they don't actually have a finished script. Jim Culter- the playwright arrives in the nick of time with a few more copies and a few more finished pages just as one of the actors mysteriously dies. As luck would have it, Jim has brought Inspector Bonnie Brauvera along to the auditions to serve as Technical advisor for the play. Perhaps the investigation into this "mysterious death" will inspire the playwright and help him finish the play. After all, there is a read-through on Monday.
A Neighborhood Association meeting is the scene of chaos. Lou Braunhorst, friendly neighbor, and conspiracy theorist, has information that the quiet streets will soon be re-zoned for commercial development. (but he also believes that Black Helicopters are transmitting signals through his satellite dish that put a "liberal spin" on his T.V. programs. But Lou's concerns do have validity. (The re-zoning, not the helicopters.) There is a 'secret' real estate scheme to institute "Eminent Domain" over the subdivision to make way for a Family Fun Pizza Parlor and a Strip Mall. Councilman Ratcliff who knows more about the neighborhood 'take-over' than he wishes to reveal, can't stay around because he is participating as an Elvis Impersonator at Elvis-O-Rama and must leave. Before Elvis can 'leave the building', he turns up dead in the restroom. Was it foul play or the ultimate Elvis impersonation? Special Secret Agent McManshon is quick to arrive and conduct an investigation. It seems Secret Agent McManshon knows a lot about this plot of murder, but unfortunately, it's a secret. For now.
Eccentric Millionaire, Albert Doornale has invited all of his close friends to his estate; including his ex-wife Abigail, his current fiance Candy Bombay, and his childhood friend from the Lower East Side, Salvatore Carbone. Everyone arrives at the estate greeted by the grumpy Butler and cutlery-carrying cook. The only problem is, Albert is not there, no one has seen him. Not his nerdy Nephew or his spoiled daughter. None of the guests have any idea why they are there or what happened to their host. That is until blood is found in the sink. Was Albert killed and carried away? In the nick of time, Inspector Bukowski arrives on the scene. A murder investigation will begin, as soon as a body is found. It may be a long wait.
A Cairo-raised daughter of an Egyptian military officer describes how she was raised to hate Americans and Jewish people and submit to dictatorship, her decision to relocate to America, and her efforts to promote peace and tolerance at the risk of her own safety.
During the garter toss at Brenda and Eddie's Wedding Reception, a mysterious man falls dead on the dance floor from a gunshot. Luckily the bride's father -the wealthy Harold Montague -invited Damage control expert Mr. Parker to the event. Parker tries "spinning" the murder as "nothing to worry about" but Society columnist Mary Berger insists "something be done".
"This is the most fun I've had with a book this year. Every page is a delight and the mystery got its hooks into me from the first chapter.” – Stuart Turton, bestselling author of The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle The letter was short. A name, a time, a place. Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder plunges readers into the heart of London, to the secret tunnels that exist far beneath the city streets. There, a mysterious group of detectives recruited for Miss Brickett’s Investigations & Inquiries use their cunning and gadgets to solve crimes that have stumped Scotland Yard. Late one night in April 1958, a filing assistant at Miss Brickett’s receives a letter of warning, detailing a name, a time, and a place. She goes to investigate but finds the room empty. At the stroke of midnight, she is murdered by a killer she can’t see—her death the only sign she wasn’t alone. It becomes chillingly clear that the person responsible must also work for Miss Brickett’s, making everyone a suspect. Marion Lane, a first-year Inquirer-in-training, finds herself drawn ever deeper into the investigation. When her friend and colleague is framed for the crime, to clear his name she must sort through the hidden alliances at Miss Brickett’s and secrets dating back to WWII. Masterful, clever and deliciously suspenseful, Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder is a fresh take on the Agatha Christie-style locked-room murder mystery, with an exciting new heroine detective.
From bestselling author Martha Grimes, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Jury is back on the case in an installment in the Richard Jury Mystery series. Long Piddleton had always been wary of newcomers. But the quiet town was stunned when the first stranger was found dead, upended in a butt of ale in the cellar of the Men with a Load of Mischief. Then the second body appeared, swinging in place of the mechanical man above the door of the Jack and Hammer. Suddenly Long Piddleton had good reason to be wary of everyone! Its cozy pubs and inns with their polished pewter and blazing hearths had become scenes of the most bizarre crimes. Who were the victims? And who was the murderer? A stranger? A maniac? Or the disarmingly friendly man next door?
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU. “Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco Chronicle Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities. At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.